Machinery for manufacturing- washboards



J. B. HOLMES, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING WASHBOARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent N o. 14,869, dated May 13, 1856.

T 0 all whom t may concern Be it known that I, J. B. HOLMES, of the cityof Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Machines for Making Incisionsin the Legs of lVashboards for the Reception of Corrugated Zinc Plates;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription t-hereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and figures of reference marked, the same forming part of thisspecification.

In manufacturing metal faced washboards, zinc is commonly used, and t-heplate is corrugated, t-he sides or legs and body board having beenpreviously prepared. The body board is made from g to is inch narrowerthan the plate, in order to allow the plate to incise itself into bothsides or legs of the board, by means of pressure with a suitable machinemade for the purpose; the edges of the plate being sharpened, and thepressure applied, to the sides or legs, the edges out and forcethemselves into the sides of the washboard until the sides are broughtin contact with the body-board or back. But if one of the legs is ofmuch softer wood than the other, the incision would take place in thatone, and barely make an entrance into the other, `iust beyond thesurface, as fully represented in Figure E of the accompanying drawings,by the dotted lines on the leg 14 which is supposed to be hard or knottywood; the leg 15, being soft wood, shows by the dotted lines thedistance the edge of the corrugated plate has inserted itself by meansof the pressure alluded to. But when the washboard is put together inthis imperfect manner, and exposed to Wet and dry states, it will swell,shrink, and warp the wood so much as to cause the Zinc plate to come outof the hard leg, owing to its shallow incision, and spring up, thusrendering the washboard unfit for use, and causing more expense torepair it than to purchase a new one.

The object of my improvement, is to remedy these defects in theconstruction of washboards, and obtain certain other advantages whichwill be hereinafter set forth, and consists in having the edges of thecorrugated plates all made alike in their form, and the angles of thecorrugat-ions the same dist-ance apart; and then to have an incisioncorrugating knife, made to correspond in form to the corrugated edge ofthe plate, operated sion knife,

by machinery, to make incisions in the sides or legs of boards at theproper depth for the reception of said plates. By this means theinsision in each leg will be made of a corresponding depth, andsufficiently deep to insure the plates remaining in the legs, instead ofbeing liable to 'come out and spring up as in the other case where theplate is forced into the leg. The advantage of using the incision knife,is to make a smooth and clean incision, whereas the method of forcingthe legs into the edges of the plate, cuts the wood imperfectly andleaves the plate on a constant strain, besides cutting shallow or deep,and sometimes not at all, if the wood is too hard or full of knots andknurls. After the incision is made in each leg by the incithe two legsare placed in connection with the zinc plate and back of the washboard,and subjected to the required pressure, which brings the several partsto their proper place, after which the sides are nailed to the bodyboard or back, in the usual way, by machinery or otherwise.

To enable others skilled in t-he art to make and use my improvement, Iwill proceed to describe its construct-io-n and operation by referringdirect to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. H, represents a face view of the washboard made after my improvedplan of incising the legs with a suitable knife or knives for receivingthe corrugated plate 19. The dotted lines drawn a short distance fromthe inner edge of the legs 16, 16, represent the depth and extent of theplate incision.

Fig. G, is a longitudinal sectional elevation of the improved washboard,showing the manner of connecting the zinc plate'to the back orbody-board, at its ends, by bending a small port-ion of the plate downat right angles, and sawing a slot in the face of the body-board, asshown at 17, 17, atthe lower and upper ends, for the reception of thebent ends of the plate, as is ordinarily done.

The advantages of the improved method of connecting the plate to thelegs of the washboard, are several; firstly, the surface of the platecan be kept more perfect in the process of manufacturing, and is notsubject to spring up transversely with the corrugations, nor is it theleast liable to come out, as before mentioned, by the warping ofdifferent parts of the washboard. Secondly, by making the incisions withthe incising knife in the legs, there can be lighter zinc or metal plateused than in the old method of making the edges of t-he plate incisethemselves into the legs. Thirdly, it is often the case that plates varyso much in thickness after they are cut from the sheet and corrugated,that, in using the old process of pressing the sides into the edges ofplates it is found impracticable, owing to the thinness of a portion ofthe plate and its eXtreme malleability, causing it to crimp and mash upin portions of the edge thus wasting the material after the labor hasbeen performed of cutting, corrugating, and bending the metal plates.But, by my improved method of incising the legs thick and thin plates,as well as those which vary in thickness are firmly inserted in the legswithout damage or injury. Fourthly, wood of a harder and firmer kind canbe used, by operating with the incision knife, than when the plates cutor make 'their own incisions, and consequently the work is of a moredurable character, and also saves the trouble and time of choosing andsorting out material free from knots, &c., in order to make the platesself incisive. And, ifthly, but not least, in the advantages of myimprovement, is, its economy compared with the former method ofconstructing wash boards. As the loss of material and labor, and theexpense of procuring the proper quality of stock formerly incurred, is,by my plan, entirely dispensed with, thus greatly reducing the cost ofmanufacturing and making an article 100 per cent. more durable.

The following is that portion of the specification having reference tothe incising machine and its operation:

Fig. A, represents a front elevation of the incising machine. Fig. B, isa longitudinal sectional elevation of the same. Fig. C, is a rearelevation of the machine. Fig. F, is an end view of the corugatingincising knives or cutters, atached to the reciprocating plate.

l, 1, represent the side portions of the frame work which support themachinery for working the plate 2, and incising cutter 7, attached tothe lower end of the plate 2. .f

1l, is a pulley, driven by a belt on the counter shaft 23.

10, is a gear pinion, on shaft 23, which Works into the wheel 9 on theshaft 21.

The shaft 2O has two cams 3, 3, which, in their motion, force down theplate 2, and cause the incising cutter 7 to cut and force its edge intothe leg or side of the washboard 21, laid on the table 8. The incisionis made from to inch, more or less, as desired, and after the incisivecutter has been forced as far as required into the leg, the cams 3, 3,relieve the plate, and the spring 4, attached to the arch-piece 24, andmetal ring 5, draws the plate 2, up so that the leg 21 can be removedand another one placed in the machine to undergo the same incisingprocess. But should the spring 4, not be sufficiently strong to draw thecutter out of the leg, the cam 6, on the middle of the shaft 2O revolvesagainst the upper part of the ring 5, and draws it out. 12 represents aguard at the Vback part of the table 8, to prevent the leg from beingpushed too far back, and 22, 22, are gage pieces, attached to the sidesof the machine to adjust the ends of the legs against so that theincision will be made the proper distance from the ends of the leg.

There are right and left hand legs. The lower ends of the left handlegs, when incised, are placed in the machine against the right handgage piece 22, and the lower ends of -the right hand legs are placedagainst the left hand gage piece 22, and that port-ion of the gageagainst which the ends of the legs are placed, are each the samedistance from the side of the knife, causing all the incisions indifferent legs to correspond.

The incising knife or cutter 7 is represented all in one piece, but inpractice it is made in parts and combined together, and separatelyconnected to the reciprocating pla-te 2.

What I claim as my improvement and desire to secure by Letters Patentarel. The arrangements of the cams 3, 3, and 6, spring 4, and ring 5,for operating the incising knife or cutter 7 as mentioned in theforegoing specification.

2. I also claim the arrangement of the guide piece 1 2 and gage pieces22, 22 for purposes mentioned.

J. B. HOLMES. Witnesses:

WV. E. WATSON, L. WV. SMITH.

